Inside A Warm, Timeless Apartment In Almaty By Basire Design

Designed for a woman in her seventies with a calm, measured lifestyle, the Lumiere Apartment in Almaty, Kazakhstan, is an exercise in creating an interior that feels both deeply personal and quietly timeless. Completed in 2025 by designers at Basire Design, the 137.3m² home was conceived around its owner's greatest priority: spending time with her family, particularly her grandchildren, while having a comfortable and welcoming space to entertain.

Rather than following a short-lived decorating trend, the designers focused on proportion, materiality and functionality. The result is a warm minimalist interior softened with contemporary details and subtle references to mid-century design.

Designed Around Everyday Life

The apartment is organised to accommodate both everyday living and hosting. At its heart is an open public area where the kitchen, dining room and living room flow into one another, with soft zoning defining each area without breaking the overall sense of continuity.

This was an important part of the brief. The apartment needed to feel comfortable when its owner was alone, but equally inviting when her grandchildren and other guests arrived. A restrained architectural base of clean shapes, built-in volumes and precise proportions provides the framework, while lighter furniture and open compositions prevent the larger elements from feeling imposing.

A Wallpaper-Led Interior

Interestingly, the starting point for the entire scheme was not a piece of furniture or a particular colour, but Jingshang textured textile wallpaper. Its soft, tactile surface established the direction for the rest of the apartment, with natural wood, stone and soft fabrics selected to complement its depth.

The palette moves through nuanced beige, cream and brown tones, punctuated by carefully placed graphic and colour accents. Rather than relying on bold colour to create interest, Basire Design uses texture and tonal variation to give the rooms their richness.

Natural Coswic parquet flooring adds warmth to the residential areas, while marble is used in the wet spaces for durability and visual clarity. The ceilings are kept in a neutral painted shade, allowing the walls and furnishings to carry the material story.

Storage That Blends Into The Architecture

For a minimalist interior to remain functional, storage needs to be considered from the beginning. Here, the systems were developed specifically for the owner by Basire Design in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Sangiacomo and a technical specialist.

The result is storage that is integrated into the architecture rather than treated as an additional layer. Closed volumes keep everyday belongings concealed, while open shelving provides space for selected objects and artworks.

 This balance between open and closed surfaces is particularly effective in the living area. The shelves function almost like a small exhibition space, introducing personality without compromising the apartment's calm visual rhythm.

The TV Area As An Anchor

The television area provides one of the apartment's strongest architectural moments. A built-in composition in deep, dark veneer creates a visual anchor within the lighter public space.

Despite its substantial scale, the composition maintains the overall feeling of lightness through its clean geometry and careful integration. It is a good example of the apartment's broader design approach: using a small number of substantial elements rather than filling the space with decoration.

The kitchen island follows a similar principle. More than simply a practical work surface, it acts as a compositional centre, connecting the kitchen to the dining and living areas and reinforcing the apartment's sense of flow.

Lighting In Layers

Lighting is treated as an architectural tool rather than an afterthought. Built-in accent lighting is integrated into key areas, including the kitchen, storage and circulation spaces, providing even illumination while highlighting the apartment's architectural features.

Decorative lighting introduces another layer. Pendant lights, table lamps and softer local sources allow the atmosphere to shift depending on how the space is being used. Together, these different scenarios create a more intimate environment in the evening while maintaining practical illumination during the day.

Art With A Sense Of Place

The apartment's final layer comes through art and decorative objects, which provide a direct expression of the owner's personality and introduce a distinctly local dimension.

In the living room, a painting by contemporary Kazakhstani artist George Lee provides a focal point, while a felt panel by Kazakh artist Saule Madiyeva hangs above the console in the lobby.

These works are particularly important within the restrained scheme. Rather than competing with the architecture, they give the neutral palette moments of colour, texture and meaning.

A Home Designed To Endure

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Lumiere Apartment is how much depth Basire Design creates without relying on visual excess. The designers describe the central challenge as finding a balance between restraint and richness — something achieved through tactile surfaces, considered proportions and carefully chosen objects.

The finished home feels warm rather than austere, sophisticated without being formal, and minimalist without becoming impersonal. Most importantly, it is designed around the person who lives there.

Credits

Designer: Basire Design,  @basire.design

Decorator: Zhanar Kurmanaliyeva, @the_zhakadecor

Photographer: Natalia Gorbunova, @gorbunovainterior